Maple Chai

This came in the mail while I was away. I love when I forget about tea orders, it’s fun to have surprises! I was a little disappointed with this one as is but it was really good for a bagged chai (got the tea bags over LL to try). However, I didn’t taste the maple at all till adding sweetener. Without sweetener, 60. With… 80! I think I was hoping for something like the classic DT pumpkin chai or Trader Nicks Pumpkin King.

Got more teas in from Murchie’s, woo hoo!

Unfortunately, this one is disappointing to me. Steeped plain, I didn’t taste any maple at all (though I could smell it). With oat milk and sugar, I do taste a touch of maple. It’s just odd to me because their other maple teas are almost too maple-y for me. As far as the spices go, I mostly taste clove, which happens to be my least favorite ha ha. There is cinnamon and a bit of ginger as well, but mostly clove. It ends up almost reminding me of an orange spice tea.

Bah! I feel like I’m crazy, because other reviewers mention it having a lot of maple… :|

Pulled this 2018 tea over to the sipdown corner for the February sipdown prompt, “Drink a black tea.”

I’m really enjoying this one! The maple is sweet but not overpowering; it goes well with the base, which is a Ceylon/Keemun blend with a really nice natural smoky note from the Keemun. I was worried the spices would be too much for me since the ingredients list chili pepper, but it isn’t at all. The sweeter cinnamon blends nicely with the maple, and I’m left with a sort of cardamom flavor late in the sip (cardamom isn’t listed in the spices, but I’m guessing it’s a combination of the ginger and clove I’m tasting), and there is a bit of warmth on my tongue after the swallow. Licorice root is listed in the blend, but I don’t taste it at all.

The maple makes this sweet enough to take without milk, but I’m sure it would be great as a latte as well (which I’m sure I’ll try while I’m working my way through the package). I really love the soft smokiness of the base without using (the far more abrasive for me) Lapsang Souchong, and it’s a lot smoother than their Canadian Breakfast.

From the Samurai TTB
A decent maple flavor in this cup that smells a bit sweeter than it tastes. Not sure I’d go out of my way to purchase, but sure was a nice way to start the day. More maple than chai, but that’s fine by me.

From TTB 2019/2020.

I love a good chai blend, but this one didn’t hit all the right notes for me. The maple was there, as well as some caramel, but the spice was missing. It was light on flavor, unfortunately, and not as bold as I would have liked it to be.

Another sample from the tea box. This one tastes pretty similar to another maple chai I’ve had and didn’t enjoy. I guess I just don’t love the way the maple flavor is being accomplished. I don’t taste much chainess to it either. It’s really just a strangely maple black tea that needs lots of sugar and milk to be pleasant. Not my thing.

//Old tasting note I forget to post.

Lots of natural maple flavour, spicy cinnamon and clove, some bold (but balanced) black tea in the base. The chili pepper is very spicy and I love it. It goes well with the maple and ginger. Muchie’s has the best maple teas I’ve ever had, and this is no exception. This is one of my favourite chais.